A New Home
by Chanberry
Summary: Edward lives in a tiny apartment with his foster parents, Izumi and Sig. But one day, he discovers he's actually the son of the richest man in the world, Van Hoenheim! Then, Roy Mustang, heir to the famously rich Mustang family enters the scene.... EdxRoy
1. Chapter 1

_This little apartment my Izumi and Sig, my parents, own... It's quite nice, and I'm comfortable living in it. But... Someday, I want to move out of this tiny apartment and move into a giant house, a mansion even, where there would be so much empty space that I could run around in it without running into anything, and I'd be rich and never have to worry about money again..._

* * *

"Ed, are you doing anything after school?" Fuery asked. The bell was about to ring for class to end, and everybody was packing their books and getting ready to leave.

"Sorry, I've got to drop by my apartment to get some stuff and then I have to go to work again." Ed replied, shoving a textbook into his book bag before looking up at Fuery apologetically.

"Oh.. That's okay. But why do you have to work so much? What do you need the money for? A car? A computer?"

"No... While that would be nice, I want to save up for a house." Ed said, standing as the bell finally rang for class to end.

"A house?" Fuery blinked, his glasses making his eyes seem even wider than they normally were. He followed Ed as he walked out the classroom.

"Yeah. It's always been my dream to live in a huge house at least 15 times bigger than the apartment I'm living in. I have to save up!" Ed smirked.

Fuery accompanied Ed halfway to his apartment, then parted with him. Ed walked alone for a while, and he was almost there when he noticed rows of shiny black cars lined up outside of the apartment building he lived in. Ed heard his mother's voice shouting from about two stories up.

"What do you mean?! We didn't take anything from the Van Hohenheim family! Now get out of my doorway before I ask my husband to throw you down the stairs!" Izumi shouted angrily.

_What are they talking about?_ Ed hid behind the corner of a wall so he could eavesdrop.

"Perhaps you are mistaken, madam, but what you took from the Van Hohenheim family is not an item." a man's voice said calmly. "You have his son, I believe. Edward Elric?"

There was a long stretch of silence, and Ed had no idea what was going on. How did that man know his name? What was happening? He walked out from behind the wall and marched up the stairs to his apartment to see what was going on. He got to the last flight of stairs when he was blocked by a giant mass dressed in a black tuxedo.

"Ow!" Ed cried out as he bumped into the giant thing blocking the stairs. Looking up, he saw a giant man with a head completely bald except for a single curl of blonde hair dangling in front of his forehead. The man was enormous and had gigantic muscles, and to top it all off he had a big mustache above his lips. Was this guy even human?

"Who-- No, _what_ are you and what are you doing--" Ed was interrupted when the massive man turned and stared at Ed, wide-eyed. Ed suddenly found himself embraced in a bone-crushing hug.

"OW!! HEY! LET GO! MY RIBCAGE! MY RIBCAGE!! OOOOOWWWW!!" Ed shouted.

"I AM SO GLAD TO HAVE FINALLY FOUND YOU MASTER EDWARD!! AFTER ALL THESE YEARS YOU'VE BEEN MISSING, MASTER VAN HOHENHEIM WILL BE SO PLEASED TO SEE YOU!!" the man cried, his grip on Ed growing tighter. Ed coughed; he couldn't breathe!!

"W-would... you... please... just let me go...? I... can't breathe..." Ed gasped. The man immediately released Edward, and he crumpled to the floor, gulping in air.

"I apologize, master Edward!! You probably do not know my name!! I am Alex Louis Armstrong, the loyal butler of the Hohenheim family that the Armstrong family has proudly served for generations!!"

"...what?"

"Oh, Master Edward, how glad I am to finally see you... the son of the great Hohenheim!! I'm sure you must be a brilliant little one!!

"WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' LITTLE YOU BEHEMOTH?!" Ed shouted, punching the man in the stomach, which he soon regretted since the man's stomach was hard as iron.

"Edward, come in, I think we need to explain some things..." Izumi said, grabbing Ed's arm and dragging him into the apartment, followed by Sig. Armstrong remained at the doorway, abandoned.

* * *

"WHAT?! So, you're telling me that I'm the son of the richest man in the world? Van Hoenheim?! Are you serious? You're kidding, right?" Ed shouted in frustration.

"Edward... I... We didn't know about any of this. I'm not lying... really..." Izumi was close to tears.

"Edward, the truth is, we couldn't have a child, since Izumi is unable to bear children. So we decided to adopt a child, but since we were so poor, nobody would allow us since they thought we couldn't support a child. So... we illegally went and adopted you..." Sig explained, a grave expression on his face.

"What?! So I was basically just dumped somewhere and picked up by you guys? And you're not my real mother and father... this has to be a joke... it can't be..." Ed sank to his knees, shocked.

"We're sorry, Edward... We're so sorry..." Izumi fell to her knees next to Edward, embracing him while she started to cry.

"But... What do I do now? Who am I?! You're not my mom and dad... but you've always been my mom and dad for as long as I can remember!! How can I just leave you to that rich stranger that I've never met before?! What should I do??" Ed also began to cry, sobbing into Izumi's shoulder.

"Edward, are you ready to leave now?" A booming voice came from the doorway. It was Armstrong, the last person Ed wanted to see at the moment.

"... What do I do... I don't want to go... I don't want to leave you!!" Ed held Izumi tighter, and looked up at Sig desperately.

"Ed... This is your decision, I won't let these people take you away unwillingly." Sig said.

"Master Edward, if you do not wish to stay at the Hohenheim mansion, you can at the very least visit your biological father." Armstrong strode into the room and stood in front of Ed. He was so large that his bald head actually brushed the ceiling. "But are you sure you want to stay in _this_ place forever?" Armstrong gestured to the tiny space that was the Curtis' apartment.

"... Well... You know what, fine. I'll go. But _only_ if my mom and dad can come too." Ed glared at Armstrong, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Very well, then, I'm sure that can be arranged." Armstrong nodded, "Please pack your belongings. I shall be waiting outside."

* * *

**That's all for now. I wrote this on a whim after watching Romantic Princess, so I apologize if it sucks... If nobody noticed, Romantic Princess the show I stole the plotline from. XD But I will change it a bit to my liking. Please review and tell me what you think!! X3**

**Oh, also, I have a question. Is it spelled Hoenheim or Hohenheim? I went with Hohenheim for this chapter, but I'm not entirely sure... XD**


	2. Chapter 2

"_... Well... You know what, fine. I'll go. But only if my mom and dad can come too." Ed glared at Armstrong, crossing his arms stubbornly._

"_Very well, then, I'm sure that can be arranged." Armstrong nodded, "Please pack your belongings. I shall be waiting outside."_

* * *

"Whoa. _Holy crap._... So this is how rich people live?" Ed gaped as he peered out the window of the limousine. They had driven past the steel gates at the entrance, and were advancing toward the mansion. It was at least eight stories tall, and it was extremely large. "Who on earth needs to live in such a huge place?!"

"Van Hohenheim does. This is the main mansion, you'll be staying here." Armstrong said.

"This is the_ main_ mansion?! How many does he have?!"

"In this area? At least four more other than this one." Armstrong replied. Ed continued to gape at his surroundings. Just _one_ of these mansions was amazing enough, but to own four more? It was incredible. Not only was the mansion itself gigantic, but there were many gardens and grassy fields around the building. Tall trees and exotic flowers decorated the entrance to the mansion, and even the doors had elaborate designs carved into them. There was a large staircase leading up to these doors, and a silky red carpet descended down the stairs to the very bottom.

The limo pulled up to the stairs, and a servant opened the car door for Ed, who didn't know how to respond to such treatment besides a slight nod of gratitude as he stepped out. He climbed up the flight of stairs and Armstrong opened the doors, allowing him into the mansion.

"Welcome, Master Edward." two rows of servants were lined up on either side of Ed and they bowed down humbly.

"Oh, wow... And I thought the _outside_ was amazing enough. This place is out of this world!!" Ed uttered gasping at the sheer splendor of the mansion.

"Come this way, Master Edward, you must meet Master Hohenheim." Armstrong led him up another long flight of stairs until they reached a hallway.

"Is the entire mansion this... fancy?" Ed asked, observing an antique vase filled with brightly colored flowers. Ir must've been worth more than Ed had in his college funds!

"Oh, yes indeed, Master Edward! Master Hoenheim prides himself in having the best quality furniture and decorations for his home!" Armstrong explained, and Ed could swear he saw pink sparkles emanating from the man. That giant could've led Santa's sleigh better than Rudolph!

"... Okay, then..." Ed said, backing away from Armstrong's luminous sparkles. He bumped into something, and Ed turned around swiftly. "Ah-- sorry!" He apologized, looking at who he'd just bumped into, then he gasped.

There, in front of him was Roy Mustang; the heir of the famously rich Mustang family. Roy was especially well-known for his striking looks and charm around the ladies. He was what every female wished to have, and what almost every male wanted to be like. And he was _especially_ handsome up close like he was now with Ed.

"That's quite alright, I'm the one that bumped into you. Who might this be, Butler Armstrong?" Roy gave Ed one of his famous half-smirk half-grin smiles, then glanced at Armstrong.

"Why, it's Edward Elric, Master Roy!! We have finally recovered him after all these years!!" Armstrong explained proudly. Mustang's smile disappeared and a bitter look crossed his face.

"The son of Hohenheim, huh? Looks like his son, that's for sure, but are you sure it's him?" Roy circled around Ed as though analyzing him, and Ed couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"We have not don DNA tests yet, Master Roy, but I can tell that it is indeed Master Edward. There's no way it couldn't be him!! we found him using the great tracking skills passed down the Armstrong family for generations!!"

"Hm. So... he could very well be a fake, am I right? Another plebeian from a poor family that's posing as the son of the richest man in the world just to rub some money off him." Roy sneered, and Ed was appalled at his rudeness. He was acting completely different than he was a few moments ago!

"Hey, you bastard!! It wasn't my idea to come here; that behemoth of a butler dragged me over!! I have no interest in Hohenheim's money; I wouldn't take a single penny!! I don't even want to be here, so you better watch what's coming out of your disgusting mouth, you jerk!!" Ed yelled, but Roy seemed unfazed.

"He's actually a bit too short to be Hohenheim's son, don't you think, Armstrong?" Roy ignored Ed and looked up at Armstrong.

"S-s-sh-sh- SHORT?! WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALLER THAN THE SINGLE BRAIN CELL OCCUPYING YOUR THICK SKULL?! YOU BASTARD!!" Ed was about to charge at Roy, but one of Armstrong's bulky arms held him back. "LET ME GO!! DAMMIT! GET BACK HERE AND LET ME KICK YOUR ASS, BASTARD!!" Ed shouted at Roy, who had begun to walk away.

"Please calm down, Master Edward! We must bring you to meet your father!!" Armstrong said, holding Ed down as he attempted to struggle out of his grasp.

* * *

"Master Hohenheim! I have brought Master Edward!!" Armstrong dragged the still extremely pissed off Edward into Hohenheim's room.

Hohenheim, who had been standing at the window, turned and saw his long lost son for the first time in 15 years. Ed's pissed off expression turned into a slightly anxious one. Hohenheim was a tall man with broad shoulders and a big beard and long hair pulled back in a ponytail. Was this man really his biological father? An awkward silence filled the room

"... Long time no see, son." Hohenheim finally broke the silence.

"... WHAT?! Is that the only thing you can think of to say to your son who's been missing for 15 years?! I was expecting something a bit more... dramatic." Ed felt quite underwhelmed. "And how are you sure I'm your son? I could be a... a fake." Ed said, remembering what Roy had said, and he scowled at the thought of that bastard.

"You look just like me when I was younger, Edward... And we have some evidence. Look." Hohenheim took a photo out of his pocket and gave it to Edward who stared at it blankly for a while. Then his face turned beet red in anger and embarrassment.

"WHEN THE HELL WAS THIS PICTURE TAKEN?!" Ed screamed. It was a picture of him stepping out of the shower with (luckily) a towel around his waist, but a birthmark near his abdomen was in plain view.

"The Armstrong family has been installing secret cameras in many places for generations!! It was quite easy to do." Armstrong said, his sparkles becoming brighter.

"You've had that birthmark since the day you were born; so we know it's you." Hohenheim explained.

Ed was about to question if such intrusion of his privacy was illegal when suddenly something heavy knocked him over.

"OW!! What the--"

"BROTHER!! I finally got to meet you!! I'm so happy!! You're just like how I imagined you to be, though I thought you might've been a bit taller, but that's ok!!I can't believe you're actually here!! YAY!!" A teenage boy with sandy blonde hair had just glomped Edward and was rambling excitedly.

"B-brother? What the hell are you talking about?! Who are you?! And get off me!! OW!! You're heavy!" Ed struggled to escape out of the boy's grasp.

"Oh, that's right! You've never met me before! I'm Alphonse! Your little brother! Mom had me a year after you were born, but you disappeared before then, so this is my first time ever seeing you in person!" Al glomped Ed again, and Ed couldn't help but crack a smile at this hyper kid who was apparently his brother. That was something he'd believe for sure; unlike the information that he was the son of Van Hohenheim. Being the brother of Alphonse could be bearable.

**That's it for now! Hope you like how the plot's coming together now! Al finally appeared, and there's a reason Roy acted so mean; it will be explained later, so don't worry! Roy will eventually be nicer to Ed and there will be yaoi fluff and lovey dovey moments. XD The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update! X3**


	3. Chapter 3

"Here's your room, Brother. We've been saving it for you all these years!" Al exclaimed, leading Ed to his room. Ed stepped inside and gasped. This room was at least twenty times bigger than the one he'd had in his small apartment! He circled around the room, amazed at how much space there was. He sat on the big, cushy bed near the wall, and was blown away by how soft and comfortable it was.

"Is it good enough? If you want a bigger bed or more furniture, I can call our servants to bring whatever you want immediately." Al said.

"You're asking me if this is _good_ enough?! Are you kidding me? This is awesome! I didn't even think a room _could_ be any better than it is right now." Ed said, astonished at how nicely these people lived. "But... there is one thing I'd like, Alphonse."

"Oh, please just call me Al. Alphonse is way to formal for my liking... Anyway, what is it that you want? I'll get you anything!" Al smiled enthusiastically.

"Well, it's nothing much, I'd just like access to a phone or something so I can call my mom and dad."

"You mean Mr. and Mrs. Curtis?" Al asked.

"Yup. I want to know what happened to them after I came here. After all, that behemoth butler said that my parents could come too if I agreed to come here." Ed said.

"Well... yes, technically they're here..."

"Technically? What do you mean?"

"You see, Father, as a token of gratitude to the Curtis family for looking after you, he gave them..."

* * *

"You're giving us this house?!" Izumi asked incredulously. Izumi and Sig were standing in front of a rather large house, gazing at one of his servants in awe.

"Yes, Master Hohenheim says he wants to thank you for taking care of Master Edward, so he is giving you this house." the servant smiled.

"But... We can't accept something like this! This house must be worth millions!" Sig interjected, but the servant waved his hand to silence him.

"Trust me. To Master Hohenheim, giving you this house is like giving a child candy for being good. If I were you, I'd just accept it." the servant advised, and he dropped the key to the house into Izumi's hands. "Here's the key. It's all yours."

Izumi and Sig stepped inside the house, speechless at how stunning it was inside.

"Sig... I miss Edward. I wish he was here with us... But now I suppose he'll be living with Van Hohenheim..." Izumi sighed, leaning against her husband's large frame.

"Yes. I'm sure he'll come visit us, though, right?" Sig placed a hand on Izumi's shoulder.

"I hope so..." Izumi whispered, and they just stood there for a while under the doorway of their new house, amazed at how quickly their lives had changed.

* * *

"They have a new house?! Seriously? That's great! Can I go see them?" Ed asked, feeling happy for his mom and dad. Even if they weren't actually related biologically, Ed still loved them like his real mother and father.

"I don't see why not." Al replied, "I think we can leave now, if you want to. I'll just get Butler Armstrong to give us the address, and we can drive over there." Al opened the door to Ed's room and was about to step out when he realized a huge figure was blocking his path.

"Perfect timing, Butler Armstrong! We were just about to--"

"Forgive me for eavesdropping, but I overheard your conversation. Master Hohenheim has requested that I do not allow Master Edward to see Mr. and Mrs. Curtis. Therefore, I cannot reveal the location of their new house." Armstrong said, and Ed's eyes widened in shock.

"What?! Why not?!" Ed yelled, unbelieving. Armstrong didn't respond, which made Ed even more angry.

"Listen, you go tell that stupid man that I don't care if he's my actual father; Izumi and Sig are my parents!! He can't stop me from seeing them!" Ed said, fuming.

"Master Edward, please know that Master Hohenheim has a good reason for doing this!" Armstrong said.

"A good reason?! What kind of good reason?!" Ed shouted, crossing his arms in irritation.

"He knows you've probably made a good connection with the Curtis family over these years, but they're the ones who took you. They illegally adopted you without even knowing who you were. He just wants to protect you." Armstrong explained, but Ed didn't seem to calm down at all; in fact, he just seemed even more indignant.

"That's not fair! Mom-- Izumi just wanted to have a child! They were too poor to even adopt one legally, so of course they'd think of doing it illegally! Besides, they're kind people! They're my family!" Ed snapped, and he was about to push past Armstrong and walk out of the room when Al grabbed his hand.

"Ed... I... I know they're probably very important to you, but I can see why Father would do that. He's overprotective. So please, please, just stay here for now, and I'll see if I can get him to let you go see your... parents... So please just stop fighting!" Al cried, and Ed forgot his anger for a moment when he saw the look of despair on Al's face. Immediately, Ed felt guilty. It must've hurt Al when he said that the Hohenheim family wasn't his real family. Al had been waiting for years to finally meet Edward, but by saying the things he did, Ed had basically flat out rejected Al.

"...I'm... I'm sorry, Al. This is just a little too much for me to deal with right now... I'm sorry." Ed apologized softly, looking down guiltily. The room was silent for a while, and Armstrong had left, so Ed and Al were alone again. Ed stole a peek up at Al's face, and the guilty expression on his face turned into a surprised one when he saw Al smiling with the biggest grin he'd ever seen.

"Uh... huh? I--"

"BROTHER, YOU LOOK ADORABLE WHEN YOU'RE GUILTY LIKE THAT!!" Al interrupted Ed and glomped him for the 4th time that day.

"Mmph!! Ow! GET OFF ME!!" Ed shouted, but there was a small smile on his face.

* * *

"Sooooo, Roy! I heard you bumped into the long lost heir of the Van Hohenheim family! What was he like? Sexy? Cute? But of course he couldn't be nearly as cute as my sweetheart Gracia!" Maes Hughes gushed, bugging his best friend Roy with his hyper personality again.

"Can it, Maes. We don't need to hear another word about your girlfriend." Jean Havoc growled.

"You're just saying that 'cause you don't have one." Heymans Breda snorted. The four men were seated in a bar owned by the Mustang family, and they were simply lounging around like they did every day. Roy rolled his eyes at his friends' behavior.

"I could care less about Hohenheim's son. He's short and he has a bad temper." Roy said, taking a sip from his drink. Non-alcoholic, of course, he only drank when he was with ladies.

"My, my, Roy. You were mean to him weren't you? Of course, it's to be expected... You're always mean." Maes smirked, shaking his head.

"I'm not mean! At least not to women. Besides, if I get too close to Edward, or whatever his name was, I'll just be roped further into the Hohenheim family. I don't want that happening." Roy sighed, leaning against the counter in the bar.

"Hm. Makes sense. Hohenheim has been looking for good people to marry his sons off with, and since his blatant confession of being bisexual to the media, I don't think he'd mind forcing you into an arranged marriage. I mean, the Mustang family is second only to the Hohenheim family, and given your reputation of being smart and charming, which I don't think you are, by the way, you'd be first in line in the bachelor list." Jean said.

"Hit the nail on the head, my friend." Mustang smiled halfheartedly at Jean. "While I'm known as a lady's man, I actually swing either way, but I do _not_ want to be related to the Hohenheim family in any way whatsoever. It's bad enough that my parents are best friends with Van Hohenheim, so I'm already closely acquainted with him..."

"But I still don't see what's wrong with being related to Van Hohenheim. If you married one of his sons, you'd practically be the biggest success story in the world!" Breda said, nudging Roy with his elbow.

"That's exactly it. I'm sick of having things this easy. Do you know how hard it is for me to make actual friends? Most of the people that 'like' me are either the lustful women after my looks, or the miscellaneous greedy people trying to build connections with me in order to mooch money off of me. I can't stand it. And if I married one of his sons, things would be even worse. I just want to live a normal life. I don't want to become the heir of the Mustang family, I don't want to be related to the Hohenheim family, and I don't want people coming after me for money or sex. I'm sick of it!!" Mustang exclaimed, slamming a fist down on the bar counter.

"Then why are you such a womanizer if you don't want people leeching onto you for money?" Breda asked. Mustang looked at him as though he'd just asked what one plus one equaled.

"The answer to that is obvious! It's funny watching them trying to seduce me. They're all so air-headed that I just play along for a while then dump them like they're a dirty cloth."

"You're the one that's dirty, Roy..." Jean muttered, but immediately shut his mouth when Roy turned and glared at him.

"At any rate, I just don't want to get close to that 'Edward' brat."

"Then can I have him?" Jean looked up hopefully.

"Sure. Not that he'd want someone like you." Roy teased, resting his elbow on Jean's head.

* * *

"Al, I have some questions..."

"Hm? What is it Ed? What do you want to ask?" Al smiled at Ed

"I know about our father, but what about our mother? I've never seen her before. How come she's not in this mansion?" Ed asked. Al's smile faded at his question, and a grave expression crossed his face.

"Um... Well... Ed, do you know how you disappeared in the first place?" Al asked.

"No... I didn't even know I had 'disappeared' until Armstrong came to my apartment yesterday..."

"Okay, well, you see, Mom was driving somewhere one day and got into a terrible car crash. I think you were in the back seat and didn't get hurt. But Mom... she didn't survive the car crash. She'd just given birth to me a few days before it happened so I was still in the hospital, so it's pure luck that I'm alive... If I was born just a few days earlier... I wouldn't be here. Anyway, we think it's then that you were taken or something, because when we found the car a few hours later, you weren't in there. You were just a week away from turning 2 years old... So... yeah. Mom's not here anymore." Al whimpered slightly, and Ed felt like hitting himself for making Al explain all of this to him.

"I'm sorry..." Ed murmured, feeling slightly awkward since he didn't know how he was supposed to comfort Al. And he felt an emptiness in his heart that his real mother wasn't alive, even if he never knew her.

"It's okay. I barely knew her, so it's not as painful. But still, when I see pictures of her, and hear stories Dad tells about her, I miss her a lot. She was a nice person." Al smiled at Ed reassuringly.

"Oh. I wish I could remember something about her..." Ed said, "Could I... I don't know... visit her grave or something sometime?"

"Of course!" Al's face lit up, "We can go tomorrow; since I don't think we'll have time to go there today, but of course we can go! I'm sure Father will at least let you do that."

"Thanks, Al." Ed smiled.

"Anytime, Brother." Al said, returning the smile, then proceeding to glomp Ed. Again.

"MMPH!! You really have to quit doing that..." Ed said, gasping for breath after Al had released him from his death glomp.

"But you have no idea how fun it is." Al laughed.

* * *

"Roy!! Come over here please, Roy!" Rebecca Mustang, Roy's mother was calling her son to the living room. His father, Raymond Mustang was also there. Both of them were elegant people, with neat black hair. It was no surprise that their son was so good looking. Rebecca had light curls in her long hair, which was pulled back into a bun, and Raymond had short, slightly wavy black hair that barely brushed his eyebrows.

"Yes, mom!! I'm coming!" Roy yelled down the long staircase, then he came scrambling down the stairs and he stood in front of his mother, who was sitting on the couch.

"Listen, Roy... Van Hohenheim has requested something of us..." Rebecca said, and Roy could feel his heart sink. He could tell what was about to happen.

"Roy, Van Hohenheim would like you to stay at his mansion for a while; to become acquainted with his son, Edward." Raymond said.

"Really? Oh, okay. NO." Roy said, "I'm not going to go. I can see where this is going. Just because you two are such good friends doesn't mean you can rope me into this."

"Roy Mustang, this is _not_ an option. You're going and that's final." Raymond stated firmly, angered by his son's instant rejection.

"I'm_ not_ going! You can't make me." Roy snapped stubbornly.

"Roy, please, it's just for a while!" Rebecca pleaded.

"Oh, sure mother dear. Anything you want," Roy said sarcastically, "Why should I go?"

"Roy, you know as well as we do that even though we may be rich, if we stick with the Hohenheim family we'll be well off for the rest of our lives. Make friends with Edward, perhaps you'll grow to like him." Raymond said. Roy mentally slapped himself. He was right. They were going to force him into an arranged marriage.

"No. That's my answer. NO!" Roy began to raise his voice, and Raymond was infuriated.

"Do NOT give me that attitude, Roy! Either you go, or you do not stay under the roof of this house! You won't be able to survive. With our connections we can make sure that this is the only place you can stay." Raymond threatened. It was true. If Roy actually left the house, if he tried to stay at a hotel, his parents could probably bribe the owner into not letting him stay. They'd guard his friends' homes so he wouldn't even be able to enter, and they'd block his credit card so he wouldn't be able to buy _anything_. He'd been backed into a corner.

"...Fine. But _only_ for a while." Roy glared at his father, then at his mother.

A while later, he was taking a shower before he had to leave, and he was trying to think up a strategy to escape. He'd come up with nothing so far.

_DAMMIT! All I want is to live a normal life... I don't want to be seen as a rich, pampered boy anymore... I need to break free from the chains of the Mustang and Hohenheim families. But how do I do so?_

* * *

Roy found himself at the doorsteps of the Hohenheim mansion an hour later, his suitcase in hand and an irritated look on his face. The door opened and servants led him to a room.

Sighing, he dumped his suitcase onto the bed, and slumped into a chair. So he was here. Now what? He stood up again, and tossed his suitcase onto the floor and fell on his bed as he angrily glared at the ceiling. He blinked when he saw a piece of paper with something written on it stuck to the ceiling.

**Look there.** The sign said, and an arrow pointed toward the wall. Roy looked in that direction and saw a little post-it note stuck to the wall.

**Go this way.** Curious, Roy followed the arrow that the not pointed to, and he was led out of his room, where he accidentally stepped on another piece of paper outside his door. He took his foot off of it and looked at it.

**Keep going that way.** There was an arrow under those words pointing right. He turned that way and found more little notes and pieces of paper, until he stopped at a door. He'd been to the Hohenheim mansion many times before, but he'd actually never been on this floor, so he had no idea what this door led to.

**OPEN.** Roy hesitated for a moment, wondering exactly why he was doing something silly like this, then he shrugged and turned the doorknob and opened the door when something knocked him off his feet.

"ROY!! I haven't seen you in ages!!"

"Al... Long time no see... Now please get off." Roy said. Al was known for his deadly glomping skills, so Roy wasn't too surprised.

"So this is where all those arrows led to. Is this your room? I haven't been on this floor in ages."

"Oh, no! This is Ed's room! My brother! Roy, we finally found him! I'm so happy!" Al cheered and dragged a pale-faced Roy into the room, where he saw Ed reading a book at his desk.

"Ed! Look who's here!" Al said. And Ed looked up from his book and Roy and Ed stared at each other for a while, not saying anything.

"... YOU!! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT CALLED ME SHORT!!" Ed shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Roy.

"Well, you are. And you're the one that called me a bastard." Roy replied coolly.

"Heh heh... I'm glad you came here, _Roy Mustang._" Ed spat his name like it was venom. "You've given me another chance to kick your ass into next week."

"Uh... you guys have met before?" Al asked nervously, anxious at the atmosphere in the room.

"Yes. I ran into him in the halls when he was meeting Van Hohenheim." Roy said.

"Oh. Okay." Al said, and he retreated out of the room, leaving the two alone. Apparently, Al didn't want to get caught up in any arguments they might have.

Edward ignored Roy and continued to read his book. Roy was about to leave and he tried to open the door when he realized it was locked from the outside. Most likely Al's doing.

"Damn it..." Roy muttered, trying the knob a few more times to make sure it wasn't just stuck or something. Ed looked at him through the corner of his eye and snorted slightly. Roy glared at him, something he seemed to be doing a lot lately.

"What's wrong? Can't even open a door by yourself?" Ed sneered, walking over next to Roy. He tried to open the door and realized with shock, just as Roy did, that it was locked.

"Al..." Ed groaned. "Damn it, now I'm stuck with you."

"We can try picking it." Roy suggested, fishing around in his pockets for something thin and long they could use to pick the lock.

"Oh please. Like that would work. Even I know that locks installed in the doors of rich people shouldn't be that easy to pick. He'll probably let us out by morning. You may take up that corner." Ed pointed to a chair in the corner of the room, indicating that that was the place where Roy would be sleeping tonight if Al didn't come to release him.

"Oh, great. This is just wonderful..." Roy muttered. This day kept getting worse and worse...

* * *

**That's it for now! I hope you liked this chapter; a lot of stuff was explained. Hopefully it's longer than the last one was. And now Roy and Ed are locked together in the same room... heh heh... wonder what will happen... XD I've already got ideas for the next chapter, please review to fuel my writing! X3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the late update! I've been on vacation in various places in Asia, so I haven't had time to update... Before I start the chapter, I just want to explain a few things about this story. I'm surprised nobody's asked about these things, but before anyone does, I'll explain it.**

**First, Ed doesn't have automail in this story. He's 17 now, and he disappeared from the Hohenheim family when he was 2; right after Al was born.**

**Roy's 18 now, and has no siblings. Hughes, Havoc, and Breda are also 18.**

**Since Ed doesn't have automail, Winry doesn't exist here. Sorry if you're a Winry fan, but I personally don't like her, so she's not going to appear. She wouldn't have much significance to the plotline anyway.**

**Okay, I'm done, I'm sure all of you want to get to the chapter, so here you go.**

* * *

"What's wrong? Can't even open a door by yourself?" Ed sneered, walking over next to Roy. He tried to open the door and realized with shock, just as Roy did, that it was locked.

"Al..." Ed groaned. "Damn it, now I'm stuck with you."

"We can try picking it." Roy suggested, fishing around in his pockets for something thin and long they could use to pick the lock.

"Oh, please. Like that would work. Even I know that locks installed in the doors of rich people shouldn't be that easy to pick. He'll probably let us out by morning. You may take up that corner." Ed pointed to a wooden chair in the corner of the room, indicating that that was the place where Roy would be sleeping tonight if Al didn't come to release him.

"Oh, great. This is just wonderful..." Roy muttered. This day kept getting worse and worse...

Roy walked over to the chair, sat down and closed his eyes, trying to get himself to fall asleep so he could wake up in the morning and be released from this nightmare. Ed also retreated into his bed with a frustrated sigh. Neither of them could fall asleep.

'_He must be cold... He's not even in his pajamas; and that wooden chair can't be very comfortable...' _ Ed thought, stealing a glance at Roy. He did look uncomfortable, but whether it was because of the chair or the fact that he was in the same room as Ed, Ed didn't know.

"Ugh... stupid bastard. Here!" Ed said, taking his warm blanket off his body and bundling it up, then throwing it at Roy's head.

"Ow! Huh...?" Roy grabbed the blanket and looked at Ed in bewilderment.

"What? Don't give me that look. It's only fair, since I get the bed, you get the blanket." Ed muttered, glaring at Roy.

"Hm. Well... thanks." Roy said, unsure of how to respond to that. So the brat was actually half-decent.

"Whatever. No problem." Ed turned over so his back was facing Roy. The man had thanked him?! That was unexpected. The room fell silent again, and Ed felt compelled to say something; he hated awkward moments like these. "So... Why are you here in the first place?"

"Because of you." Roy responded, directing another accusing glare at Ed.

"What?! Why's it my fault?!"

"Because your father wants me to _get friendly_ with you."

"My father's fault again?! How many times is he gonna screw with my lif-- Wait. _'Get friendly with me'_?! What's that supposed to mean?!" Ed was appalled at what Roy seemed to be implying.

"Oh, nothing special. Hohenheim just wants us to 'get friendly' so he can hurry up and force us to get engaged." Roy spat. "And trust me, the last thing I want is to get engaged with a short-tempered shrimp like you."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?! WHO THE HELL WOULD WANT TO GET FRIENDLY WITH A PERSON LIKE YOU?!" Ed shouted furiously, chucking his pillow at Roy's face.

"Likewise. I have no intentions of bringing myself any closer to your family. I just want to leave this place; and leave my own family, as soon as possible."

This struck Edward as something odd. He understood why Mustang wouldn't want to be engaged with him; they hated each other, or at the very least Ed knew he hated Mustang... But why would he want to cut himself off from the Hohenheim family? And even his own family?

"You seem like a selfish bastard, why do you even want to leave your family? You could easily inherit their wealth." Ed said, and he found himself wanting to know more about Roy, even if he did hate him.

"I just explained this to my friends yesterday... How tiring; now I have to go through this again. I don't _want_ to inherit my parent's wealth. I don't _want_ to be the famously rich heir of the Mustang family. I want to have a normal life where people won't try to pretend to be my friend just so they can mooch money off of me. My number of true friends has been reduced to under five. I just want to live normally, work normally, and earn money by myself instead of relying on the wealth of my family or yours. That's why I've been trying to be mean to you so we can't get close."

Ed blinked in surprise. So Roy wasn't actually a greedy rich snob after all. He was only acting like one so he wouldn't be chained to the fate everyone expected of him. Ed could understand why he'd want to leave this place; after all, Ed wasn't exactly delighted about staying here himself.

"That makes sense... so you're not a complete snob. But why is Hohenheim trying to pair you up with me? What about Al?" Ed asked. It seemed as though Roy was somewhat of a friend to Al, otherwise Al wouldn't have glomped him upon his entrance into the room. Why wasn't Roy an ass to Al?

"You don't know? Al's got a girlfriend already-- a young lady named Martel, from another rich family that's less known, but they're definitely noticed by the Hohenheim family."

"Wait... Al's got a girlfriend?! But he's younger than I am!! He's 16 and he's already got one?!" Ed was bewildered, but it somehow wasn't surprising... Al was so friendly that people couldn't help but like him.

"What do you mean 'already'? I had a girlfriend when I was 10!!" Roy said, looking at Ed like it was the most natural thing in the world to have a girlfriend at such a young age. "Unless... Don't tell me you're a virgin?"

Ed blushed furiously at this. "S-so what if I am?! I'm still 17!"

"The legal age to have sex is 16 in Amestris. You've wasted an entire year being a virgin?!" Roy asked incredulously.

"I'm not a dirty womanizer like you are!" Ed spat, his blush deepening.

"People must not want you since you're so short..." Roy contemplated.

"I AM NOT SHORT, FOR THE LAST TIME!!" Ed shouted, walking over to Roy and grabbing his pillow back, only to whack Roy with it a second time.

"Ow... Seriously, nobody would like someone as violent as you-- OW!" Roy yelped as Ed socked him in the stomach with the pillow. "Oh, that's it!" Roy snatched another pillow from Ed's bed and proceeded to furiously whack Ed with it... Or at least attempt to. Edward dodged with almost inhuman speed and came behind Roy to whack him on the back.

Soon they were having a full-out pillow fight, with Roy on the losing end for the most part. How was Ed so damn fast?!

"Are you some kind of superhuman?!" Roy asked, panting heavily after his last attempt to hit Ed.

"Nope. I was just raised and trained by Izumi Curtis since I was little." Ed smirked, "You seem like you're tired already, Roy."

The victorious grin on Ed's face was really pissing Roy off. He raised his pillow above his head, and mustered all his strength into whacking Ed with it. Ed's face held a look of surprise and he held up his pillow to block the blow. All of a sudden there was an explosion of feathers, and both pillows were destroyed.

Ed looked at Roy, unsure of what they should do. Would they be in trouble?

"Um... What do we do about this mess--"

"HA HA HA HA!! L-look at yourself... You have feathers stuck everywhere in your hair and clothes... You look ridiculous!" Roy chuckled, and Ed's face turned a deep shade of red.

"W-what?! Well, you're not exactly looking your best either! Look, there's even a feather stuck behind your ear! Who are you trying to be-- Pocahontas?" Ed snapped back at Roy, who continued to laugh regardless.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny-- ACHOO!!" Ed sneezed as a feather fell and tickled his nose. At this, Roy laughed even harder. Then, he got an idea...

"Heh... are you ticklish?" Roy asked, and evil glint in his eyes.

"N-no. I'm not. Why do you want to know?!" Ed glared at Roy, who was grinning evilly. Roy grabbed one of the fallen feathers off the ground and proceeded to viciously tickle Ed. Since Ed was only in his tank top and boxers, many of his ticklish areas were wide open.

"Ha... ha! HAA HAHAHAHAHA!! S-STOP!! N-no!! stop it--ha ha ha.." Ed was torn between laughter, embarrassment, and anger. Each expression crossed his face while Roy was tickling him, and Roy found this very amusing.

Later, the two of them had collapsed on the bed, completely exhausted. Ed was still giggling as if he were drunk from the tickling, which in turn made Roy laugh too because he looked so ridiculous.

"You're one hell of a tickler..." Ed said after he'd calmed down a bit.

"And you're on hell of a pillow fighter." Roy replied. Ed just laughed at that, and smiled at Roy.

"You know, if you don't act like a jerk, you're kinda fun." Ed said, "I know you're trying to act like an ass to me so Hohenheim won't force you to do anything, but when he's not watching, let's call a truce, okay?"

"Hm... I still think you're a bratty shrimp, but a truce sounds alright. I'm not actually as much of a jerk as you think I am."

"And I'm not as short as you think I am. You people are just too damn tall!" Ed exclaimed.

"Whatever you say." Roy rolled his eyes.

"So, it's official? We're calling a truce?"

"Yeah. Just remember to act like the stubborn shrimp you are to me when Hohenheim's around."

This earned a glare from Edward, and for the first time Roy realized what an intense shade of gold Ed's eyes were. Hohenheim's eyes were the same color, but he had none of the intense determination and flame as Ed's. Roy caught himself staring and immediately looked away.

"Hm.. What time is it?," Ed looked at the digital clock near his bed, "Holy crap! It's already past midnight! We should get to sleep."

Just as Ed said that, Roy felt tired. He hadn't realized how late they'd stayed up squabbling.

"I'll retreat to my chair then..." Roy yawned as if on cue. He was about to get up from the bed and plop into the chair when Ed grabbed his arm.

"Wait!"

Roy looked at Ed, confused. "What?"

"Uh... Er, well, the chair is probably not comfortable, and my bed is huge, so why don't you sleep in the bed? It's big enough that we can keep our distance from each other." Ed said, avoiding eye contact with Roy as he spoke. What was wrong with him? He'd just impulsively grabbed Roy's wrist and invited him to sleep next to him!! Ed felt a blush returning to his cheeks. What the hell was he thinking?!

"Well, I don't know..." Roy glanced at the bed. It was pretty large. "...I guess I'll sleep in the bed then."

'_What? Did he just... accept?!'_ Ed thought, unwilling to believe it. Didn't this prove that Roy was some kind of pervert?! Yet... the thought of sleeping side by side with Roy didn't seem too bad... Wait! What was he thinking?!

"J-just do whatever you want!" Ed said finally as he snatched his blanket from the floor where it had fallen during the pillow fight. He lay down on the bed and turned his back toward Roy so he couldn't see his deep blush. A few moments later, Ed felt Roy's weight on the other side of the bed. Ed ignored him and willed himself to sleep.

* * *

'_Sunlight... Why wasn't there any sunlight?_' Roy snapped his eyes open. The room was still dark, but his mind told him it should be morning already. Roy glanced at the curtains and realized that they were blocking the sun's rays. Grunting, he dragged himself out of bed and pulled open the curtain. Sunlight spilled into the room, illuminating it, and showing the aftermaths of the pillow fight Roy and Ed had last night.

Thinking of Ed, Roy looked over to the still sleeping teen. Ed had at some point in the night thrown the blanket off of himself, and he was sleeping with his stomach exposed. Something told Roy that this was probably a bad habit of Ed's and he chuckled softly as Ed let out a small snore.

Roy stopped chuckling abruptly as he realized he was actually starting to be on good terms with the blonde teen. Ironic, that the very person he'd tried to distance himself from ended up becoming friends with him. That could be seen as either good or bad. If he started to like Ed more than he should, his fate as a wealthy man would be sealed.

"Ugh... close the curtains... It's too bright..." Ed mumbled, and Roy jumped slightly when he realized that Ed was awake.

"What, is the little shrimp still tired? Stayed up too late last night?" Roy taunted, though this time he said it playfully.

"Shut up... If I wasn't half asleep I'd go over there and kick your ass..." Ed growled, sitting up in his bed. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, and Roy couldn't help but admit it looked a little cute.

"I wonder when Al's gonna come open the door so you can haul your butt out of here." Ed yawned and peeked at Roy, who just rolled his eyes.

"I doubt it will be Al."

"Huh? What do you mean by that...?" Ed asked, a confused look on his face. He was a bit more alert now.

As if on cue, the door burst open to reveal Butler Armstrong, who ducked his head under the door way and into the room. He was so massive he actually had trouble fitting through the door. Following Armstrong was a line of maids pushing along carts of clothing and other items.

"What...? What are you all doing he--'

"Good morning, Master Edward!! We've come to assist you in getting dressed! Here is a wide selection of clothes that you may choose from!!" Armstrong boomed, "Good morning to you as well, Master Roy."

"Good morning, Butler Armstrong. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to my own room now--"

"Oh, Master Roy! There's no need for that! We have also brought you the necessary items to get dressed! There is no need for you to walk all the way back to your room."

As if on cue, another line of maids shuffled into the room with another cart of clothing.

Roy shrugged and glanced at Ed to see what his reaction was. Ed was gaping like a fish at the piles of clothes.

"Who on earth needs to choose from this many clothes for just one day?!" Ed asked, bewildered.

"Oh, if none of them suit your taste, I will go bring more, Master Edward." Armstrong said, and was about to duck his head back out the door, but Ed stopped him.

"You're not serious... Well, I guess you are, but never mind. This... this is enough. More than enough, thank you."

"Alright. Then I will take my leave. When both of you are dressed, I will return to take away the unwanted clothes." And with that, the maids followed him out the door, leaving Ed and Roy alone again.

"Do all rich people live like this?" Ed looked at Roy.

"Yes. Pretty much." Roy replied, looking through his pile of clothes. He pulled out a white T-shirt, a brown leather jacket, and black jeans.

Ed followed suit and fished out a white button up shirt, black pants, and a long black coat. He liked long coats for some reason; Fuery had asked him why once, and he'd said that 'it makes me look badass, that's why'. Ed laughed softly a little at the memory as he took off his tank top to change into the shirt.

"What's so funny?" Roy asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just remembered something funny, that's all." Ed smirked.

"... Okay..." Roy stared at Ed, who's tank top was now gone and was about to be replaced by the white shirt. Roy noticed that Ed was quite muscular...

"Um, do you mind? I'm not exactly comfortable about changing when other people are watching me." Ed said, and Roy immediately looked away, his face turning a bit red from embarrassment.

"Sorry."

"Whatever. I'm used to it."

"Oh... Wait, hold up a sec, you're _used _to people staring at you?!"

"Well, yeah... I get a lot of stares when I'm in the locker rooms for P.E... I don't know why, though, do I look like a horribly mutated monster or something?" Ed wondered aloud.

Ed thought he looked like a horribly mutated monster?! That was far from the truth, Roy thought as he looked at Ed. Was Ed really that thick?!

"No, you don't. I'm pretty sure they're staring at you for other reasons..." Roy said, and Ed looked confused, but shrugged off the topic as he finished getting dressed. Roy also finished up, and moments later Armstrong barged in to carry away the clothing, then he escorted them to the dining room.

"Ed.. remember that we have to act like we hate each other in front of Hohenheim." Roy whispered after making sure Armstrong was out of earshot.

"Yeah, yeah." Ed muttered back.

* * *

"Alphonse, did you succeed last night?" Hohenheim asked, pausing his fork and knife for a moment to look at Al expectantly.

"Yeah, Dad. Placed all the arrows; led him to Ed's room, then locked them in. From the sound of it, it seems like they had a little quarrel in there... There were banging noises all night... The maids said there were feathers scattered all over the floor so I think they had a pillow fight." Al snickered.

"A pillow fight, hm? Well, generally pillow fights are to be had with friends, so I hope they've started to get along..." Hohenheim said, a slight smirk surfacing on his face.

Their conversation was interrupted when the door to the dining room opened to reveal Ed and Roy glaring at each other as they walked in.

"You're a bastard, you know that?"

"Well you're just a little brat!"

"Don't be such a dipwad, I'll kick your butt into next week."

"Go ahead and try."

"Maybe I will--"

"Silence, you two. Stop squabbling and take a seat." Hohenheim interrupted their fight.

They did as they were told, and sat far away from each other. Which was an easy task since the table was huge, as was everything else in the mansion. Ed tore his glare away from Roy and smirked inside. Good to know that Roy was a decent actor. Ed turned his attention to what was on the table and gasped. There was so much food... it looked as though even an elephant would take a lifetime to finish all of it. Not only was the quantity large, the food was gourmet, and Ed could only wonder what famously talented chef could've made it.

"Um... Isn't this a bit... extreme for a normal breakfast?" Ed asked, gazing at Al.

"Well, Dad thought that since you've come back and everything we should celebrate with big meals today... so he told his chefs too cook their best and make a lot. Do you like it?" Al smiled, and Ed managed a faint smile back as he stared at all the food. He was a.. healthy eater, to say the least, but even this would prove to be too much for the infamous Elric bottomless pit.

Everyone dug in, and Ed got his first taste of what wealthy people ate. And oh, it was wonderful! There were belgian waffles cooked so that the outside was crispy and the inside soft and fluffy, with a sauce poured on top of them that Ed didn't recognize, but he decided that from now on, that was his favorite topping for waffles.

"Do you like it?" Hohenheim asked. Ed snapped out of his blissful eating mode and looked at Hohenheim. Suddenly he remembered that this seemingly kind and generous man was currently keeping him away from Izumi and Sig, and he lost his appetite.

"Yeah. It's good alright. But it would be even better if I could eat it with my Mom and Dad." Ed said, directing a glare at Hohenheim, whose expression became one of annoyance.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from those kinds of low-class people, Edward. I've made sure they'll live a good life from now on, they'll be happy even without you." Hohenheim said, taking a bite out of a muffin he'd snatched from the table. It was as though he was stress eating.

"You don't know anything. Izumi's raised me since I was a kid; do you think she'd dump me with you so easily?" Ed said, putting down his knife and fork; he wasn't in the mood to eat anymore.

"Well, that's what she did, wasn't it? Thus the reason why you're here." Hohenheim defended.

"You bastard! She did it because she knew it was right! Since biologically, I'm your son, so I'm yours anyway, but that doesn't mean she wasn't sad about giving me back to you! She's loved me like her own son for years! So why won't you even let me see them?!" Ed slammed his fist down on the table.

"ENOUGH! I will not have such nonsense during a meal." Hohenheim said furiously.

"Well, seeing as I'm not eating anymore, I can hardly call this a meal now. So, Hohenheim, are you going to let me see my _actual_ parents?" Ed's eyes held a threat in them as he spoke.

"No, Edward. That's final. Now sit down and continue eating."

"No. Let me see them! Just tell me their address! I won't even go there yet, just let me know where they live!!" Ed began to raise his voice, and he stood and shouted across the room at Hohenheim.

"Silence! I'm not going to tell you. And you're not going anywhere outside this mansion without my permission until I say otherwise!" Hohenheim snapped.

Oh, that was the last straw! Now Ed was completely pissed off. How could such a stubborn, arrogant bastard possibly be his biological father?!

"Fine. If you won't tell me, I'm leaving this god-forsaken place." Ed said flatly, walking toward the door.

"Wait--" Ed heard Roy yell. He paused at the door and looked back at him. Roy blinked. He hadn't meant to yell out, but when Ed was about to leave he'd just impulsively... What in the world was wrong with him?! The sooner Ed marched out of his life the better! "Uh... I..."

"Ed! Don't leave! Please!" Al cried, saving Roy. Al stood up and looked at Ed desperately. Ed felt himself falter slightly. He didn't want to leave Alphonse; Ed had found that he really loved Al as his little brother. How would Al cope if Ed just walked out on him?

"...Sorry, Al. Really..." Ed whispered as his anger took the better of him and he burst out the door.

"GUARDS!"

Ed heard Hohenheim screech the command and suddenly he was surrounded by guards. They were merely blocking his way; they weren't even carrying any weapons or anything. This would be easy.

"Oh my god! Look! That antique vase is about to fall off the table!" Ed shouted, pointing at a random corner. Immediately after he'd said that, almost all the guards fell for it and looked in that direction. Ed charged past them and the few guards that didn't fall for the trick tried to intercept him.

Ed grabbed a guard by the collar and threw him, also hitting a few other guards along the way. He did this a few more times to the remaining ones, varying his methods of knocking them out. By the time he'd knocked them all out, he was already at the front entrance of the Hohenheim mansion.

* * *

**That's it for now; hope you enjoyed the chapter! I have good plans for the next chapter... Heh heh... I'll update sooner depending on how many reviews I get! XD Until next time, dear readers.**


	5. Chapter 5

"_GUARDS!"_

_Ed heard Hohenheim screech the command and suddenly he was surrounded by guards. They were merely blocking his way; they weren't even carrying any weapons or anything. This would be easy._

"_Oh my god! Look! That antique vase is about to fall off the table!" Ed shouted, pointing at a random corner. Immediately after he'd said that, almost all the guards fell for it and looked in that direction. Ed charged past them and the few guards that didn't fall for the trick tried to intercept him._

_Ed grabbed a guard by the collar and threw him, also hitting a few other guards along the way. He did this a few more times to the remaining ones, varying his methods of knocking them out. By the time he'd knocked them all out, he was already at the front entrance of the Hohenheim mansion._

* * *

"Shit... Shit, shit, shit shit......" Hohenheim repeated under his breath. How could his son be so disobedient? He'd given Edward more luxury than anyone in the world, offered him a carefree life, and he'd just walked out! Just like that! Obviously there had been something wrong with his upbringing. Just how had that cursed couple raised Edward?! Hohenheim felt a pang of guilt, knowing that his son had to be raised by those.... filthy commoners all these years.

The guards were still just standing around, shocked by how easily Edward had evaded them. At this, Hohenheim grew even angrier. What were they doing standing idly?! His son was out there!

"Guards! Get going! Go find Edward or your paychecks will be cut in half! Go!! He can't have gone too far! Take the cars if you need to!" Hohenheim ordered, face red with anger. Immediately, the guards scrambled away.

"Um... Dad? I think... I actually think that maybe we should leave Ed alone to calm down for a while. I'm sure he'll come back, right?" Al said, attempting to make his father calm down. Al was really the only one that could soothe Hohenheim's temper. But right now, it wasn't working.

"Silence, Alphonse. What if something happens to him? We should all be looking for him! He doesn't even have a bodyguard with him.... Roy, why don't you look for him too?" Hohenheim directed his gaze toward Roy, who snapped to attention.

"What?! Why should _I_ go find him?"

"The more people the better. Now go."

* * *

Edward ran at a steady pace, barely noticing where he was going. Actually, he had no idea where he was going. He'd been running for twenty minutes straight now, too focused on getting away from Hohenheim to look at his surroundings. He was lost.

".... Where the hell am I?!" Ed hissed to himself, slowing down to a fast walking pace. It was still pretty early in the morning, and nobody was outside; most of them probably weren't even awake yet. Looking around, Ed noted that he was near a park; judging by the fact that there was a playground and picnic benches everywhere. He didn't recognize anything, and there weren't any signs anywhere.

"Great... Just _wonderful._ Now I'm lost in the middle of nowhere, and I don't know where Mom is, and Roy--" Ed cut himself off in the middle of the sentence. Roy what? Why was he thinking of _ROY_ of all people right now?! Like that bastard could help him with his situation.... Nobody could help him right now, actually... "DAMMIT!!!!"

"Oh, aren't we a little bit frustrated?" A voice said behind him, and Ed jumped. Turning around, Ed noticed a rather suspicious looking man staring at him.

"Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?!" Ed glared at him. He wasn't in the mood to deal with random strangers right now.

"Solf J. Kimblee. Pleased to meet you." The man said, and Ed took a good look at him for the first time. He was a tall man with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail and pale eyes that were cold and emotionless. He wore a dark red sweater and his hands were in the pockets of his jeans. Edward had a bad feeling about him.

"Uh huh.... Nice to meet you too. Now if you could please either go away or give me some good reason for wasting my time....."

"I wouldn't be so cocky..... Edward Elric."

This man knew his name..... which ultimately meant he had some business with Ed.

"How do you know my name?" Edward asked warily. This man... Kimblee, or whatever, definitely seemed like a bad guy.

"That's a pretty stupid question, seeing as you're the hottest topic in the news lately. That rich bastard Hohenheim's long lost son, finally come home, only to run away, hm? That imbecile has put all his effort into finding you again, but I don't think I can allow that." Kimblee smirked, and he took his hands out of his pockets to reveal a shiny black pistol. Ed's eyes narrowed at this, and his body tensed, sensing the danger.

"Great..... Let me guess.... You're just some poor old sod whose toes got stepped on by the all-powerful Hohenheim and now you're out for revenge? And now you're taking it out on me, huh? Classic villain. Why don't you go ahead and explain your evil plan before I kick your ass?" Ed directed a glare at Kimblee, matching the coldness of his gaze to Kimblee's.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I prefer action rather than words. Now, be a good little kid and do what I say or you'll be found dead in the middle of the road with a hole through your brain."

Kimblee's first mistake was coming up to Ed in the first place. His second mistake was threatening Ed. And his third and last mistake was calling him _little._

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A LITTLE KID WHO'S SO SMALL EVEN THE MOST TRAINED SNIPER CAN'T SHOOT ME CAUSE HE'D MISS SUCH A TINY TARGET?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ed yelled. Kimblee was taken by surprise at Ed's reaction and he faltered for a moment, long enough for Ed to kick the gun out of his hands and send it flying to the other side of the street.

"Shit.... Damn it, you little--"

Apparently, Kimblee hadn't learned his lesson yet.

* * *

"Urgh... Why do I have to go out searching for that little pipsqueak? Not like I care what happens to him...." Roy muttered as he got into his expensive sports car. His idiotic father had given it to him for his birthday; and now he had to parade around the streets in it and try to ignore the gaping pedestrians that drooled over both the car _and _the driver. Being rich was such a hassle.

Roy drove around aimlessly, looking out for any blond haired short teens that resembled Ed. This was pointless; the guards would probably find him themselves and besides, it was too early for any shady people to be stalking around looking for targets. Or so he thought.

He'd been driving around for at least an hour now, and he was so bored he was practically drooling on the steering wheel. If and when they found that blonde shrimp, Roy made a note in his mind that he'd have to make him pay. Suddenly, Roy screeched to a halt when he heard a familiar voice shouting a few yards a way. Shaking his head in order to rid himself of the lethargy of driving for an hour, Roy parked his car near a curb and climbed out, looking around.

"--CAUSE HE'D MISS SUCH A TINY TARGET?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yup. That was Ed.

Sighing, Roy walked toward his voice and found Edward at the park, glaring angrily at a black-haired stranger.

"Damn it, you little--" the black haired man was interrupted as Edward's foot connected with his face and he fell backwards, landing hard on his back.

"That's what you get for calling me short, you bastard!!!!!" Edward seethed, kicking the man again in the stomach.

"Uh, so I guess I'm not need here, am I?" Roy said, and he smirked when Ed jumped in surprise.

"What the hell?! Roy? What the fuck are you doing here?!" Ed asked, shocked.

"I was instructed by your father to go out and find you, and I was driving for an hour before I finally got here. But it looks like Hohenheim really didn't need to worry about you...." Roy said, cringing slightly as he looked at the man who Edward had kicked. "What did the poor guy do to you?"

"He threatened me and then called me short. He would've shot me if I didn't knock the gun out of his hands." Ed spat, gesturing toward the gun still lying on the ground.

Roy looked at it in alarm, then looked at Ed with wide eyes. The teen didn't seem very shocked at all by the fact that he had just had his life threatened. Actually, he seemed more angry than scared. Not that Roy was really surprised; after all, Ed had almost superhuman strength......

"You..... You're Roy Mustang aren't you?" Roy's thoughts were interrupted as the black haired man hissed at him.

"Yes I am. What are you gonna do about it?"

"Oh, this is just too good. Both of you, in the same place, just standing there in front of me......." Kimblee coughed, still not fully recovered from Ed's attack. He directed his cold gaze at Roy and smirked. "I'll take both your lives....."

Suddenly, Kimblee was up again and had whipped out a knife from his pocket, and before either of them could react, Kimblee had grabbed Ed and was now pressing the knife to his throat.

"Hey!! You--" Ed began, but Kimblee covered his mouth with his hand.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll shut up." Kimblee hissed, then looked at Roy. "You. The Mustang family's heir. Go run back to this kid's filthy bastard of a father and tell him that if he wants his precious son to live, he'll have to pay a nice big ransom of a hundred million cens. If you fail to do so, I'll murder the kid. Every day you delay, two of this kid's fingers will be cut off. If by the end of this week you still haven't replied, then his arm will be gone too."

Roy was frozen. He didn't know what to do. Should he try to save Ed? Should he run back to Hohenheim? Or should he just leave Ed here and pretend he didn't know what happened? He actually weighed this option, but his conscience disapproved strongly. Roy found himself rooted to the spot, completely unable to move as he tried to make up his mind.

* * *

Ed didn't even realize that Kimblee had recovered until he felt the cool knife pressed against his throat. This man was quite a problem; first the gun, and now the knife...... He tried to struggle, but that bastard had even covered his mouth with his dirty hands!!!! It was disgusting, and Ed had never felt angrier in his life.

As Kimblee was explaining his conditions for the ransom, Ed found that he wasn't feeling scared, and was instead studying Roy's reactions. Roy looked like he was paralyzed with fear. Apparently, Roy thought Ed might need help to get out of this situation. Ed felt anger well up inside him and he wanted more than anything to just go up to Roy and sock him one in the jaw. And Kimblee sure as hell wasn't going to stop him from doing it.

When Kimblee was talking, he'd loosened his grip on the knife slightly so it was held at least a centimeter away from Ed's neck. Kimblee's hand was still covering his mouth, so both of Ed's hands were still free. It should be pathetically easy to escape from this.

Cautiously, Ed raised his hands slowly toward the hand Kimblee was holding the knife with. Kimblee was distracted by Roy and didn't notice. Abruptly, Ed yanked the knife away from his throat, grabbed Kimblee's wrist and kicked him in the nuts.

"OW!!! SHIT!!!!!" Kimblee swore, and he tried to lunge at Ed with the knife, but Ed dodged easily and pounded his elbow into the back of Kimblee's neck, effectively knocking him out. He sure was glad Izumi had trained him since he was little....

Roy had just been staring with a bewildered expression on his face as Edward beat the shit out of the man, but now he snapped back into focus and walked toward Ed. Ed had crouched down to look at Kimblee. "Do you know this guy? Apparently he has a grudge against my stupid father. Said his name was Kimblee."

".... Hmm.... Sounds familiar..... Anyway, I'm glad that's over with. You sure beat the crap out of him........ I'll turn that guy into the police later. Are you okay, Ed?" Roy looked over Ed for injuries.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Not that you'd give a shit, anyway." Ed glared at Roy. Pfft. The guy was even worrying about him.

"Hey, just making sure. You must be indestructible or something..... Not only did you stay calm in the situation, but you managed to beat the crap out of Kimblee........ Just what did Izumi put you through when you were small?!"

"..... I'd rather not talk about it." Ed cringed slightly. "But despite her.... violence, Izumi was a good mom. She taught me the basics of life."

"The basics of life being how to beat the shit out of someone attempting to kidnap you?

"Yeah, pretty much." Ed smirked in response. He wasn't going to lie. Izumi's training was like hell. But the skills he learned had saved his life on many occasions, since he was like a magnet for trouble.

"We should head back now. Come on, I'll give you a ride." Roy smiled encouragingly at Ed, but Ed glared at him in response.

"No."

Roy blinked. "Why?"

"You think I'm gonna give up that easily? I ran away for a reason, you know. Take this guy to the police or whatever. I'm not going back until I get 'permission' to see my parents again."

* * *

**I am SO sorry for the late update..... Even though I got so many reviews last chapter...... I'm sorry!! It's been a few months, huh? The file has been lying in my computer for ages but I never uploaded it.... I actually completely changed the original direction I was taking this so I was taking a while to think the entire plot out. Hopefully, it will work out. Please review; you can yell at me to update sooner; it will help XD**


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